Despite years of mouse and keyboard use as a software engineer, I do not yet have carpal tunnel syndrome. However, I suspect it's in my future. With that said, skinny stick pens leak, get lost, "walk away" and cause me hand and finger discomfort when I use them.

Ever since Pilot introduced the Dr. Grip pen, I've carried one everyday with me. It's comfortable to use and very reliable.

On some weird subconscious level, I think we are more careful with a pen for which we've paid $5-8 as opposed to those that come in a pack of 12 for $2. At least that's been my experience. Every couple of years, I lose my Dr. Grip pen and have to go buy another.

When the Dr. Grip pencil came along, I bought one and carried it along with my Dr. Grip pen.

Several months back, I lost my Dr. Grip pen again. In the store, I saw the Dr. Grip 1+1, pen and pencil combo. It seemed like such a brilliantly simple idea. The comfort of a Dr. Grip and both a pen and pencil in one single implement. It goes with me everywhere.

It might seem like being nit picky, but there are certain times you need a pen and other times when you need a pencil. Now I always have both.

When I ran out of pencil lead this week, I was quite mystified as to how I went about refilling it. After finding the Pilot Pen website, I called Customer Service, and the woman I spoke with was very helpful. It's not a toll free 800 number, but I wasn't on the phone for more than a few minutes.

To refill pencil lead, unscrew the grip end of the pen. You'll see the ink cartridge and the pencil lead shaft. There's a small brass colored "barrel". Pull on that brass colored "barrel" to remove the "cap" from the pencil lead reservoir. Five or six leads seem to fit just fine. Replace the reservoir cap. Screw the pen back together. It's really quite easy.

http://www.pilotpen.us/about/contact/

Changing the ink cartridge also was not readily apparent to me, but it too is simple enough. Just pull the old cartridge out, and push another one in.


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